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nannasin28
the way our bureaucracy thinks and acts. http://www.hqew.net
aktion99
I agree, keep up a good work. Give more insight. Thanks
Yoshida in Japan: Two years later, few signs of recovery
Junko Yoshida
3/13/2013 2:01 AM EDT
Two years after the devastating tsunami and earthquake that killed close to 19,000 people and wiped out many coastal villages on March 11, 2011, too many people are still living in temporary housing, villages closer to Fukushima are still struggling to recover from the radioactive fallout caused by the nuclear crisis, and people in many remote fishing villages who were economically strapped before the tsunami face a future that’s uncertain at best and bleak at worst.
Recent photos of before (2011) and after (2013) posted in the Atlantic's website illustrate how almost all of the rubble has been removed, or stacked neatly away.
You may call that quintessential Japanese efficiency–or a Pecksniffian obsession with appearances.
Meanwhile, Japan’s recovery is stuck in neutral, afflicted by a failure of flexibility and imagination on the part of government, bureaucracies and the people who have the power to change existing rules and regulations but don’t use it.
Rule-bending, of course, has never been Japan’s forte.
In a press briefing held at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan earlier this year, Futoshi Toba, mayor of Rikuzentakata, Iwate Prefecture, noted, “Honestly speaking, the state of our city is nowhere close to recovery.” Rikuzentakata, hard hit by the tsunami, saw 1,556 people killed, including the mayor’s own wife, with 218 people never found. In summary, 7 percent of its total population disappeared.
Asked about the root cause of the delayed recovery, the mayor cited government red tape, vertically organized government agencies (each working in a silo) and leadership’s inability to act and think outside regulations never formulated to cope with a thousand-year storm.
Futoshi Toba, mayor of Rikuzentakata
After two long years, Mayor Toba said, “We see piles of rubble everywhere, while damaged public facilities remain inactive.” The situation for Rikuzentakata is particularly devastating, because the town itself, located in the middle of nowhere, is built on weak economic and financial foundations, while its small population has many senior citizens.
While there are several reasons for our slow recovery, Toba pinned the main blame on “the way our bureaucracy thinks and acts.”
Toba recalled what happened several months after the earthquake and tsunami hit the town. “We were left with not a single supermarket in town. There were no retail outlets standing where our residents could even buy bottled water, let alone food.” The plan for a much needed supermarket was turned down by regulators, said Toba, on the grounds that the area is zoned for agricultural use. Every day, the town smacks head-first into a Japan too rigid to adapt compassionately to crisis.
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de_la_rosa
3/14/2013 7:06 AM EDT
stop complaining. they are doing their best
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junko.yoshida
3/14/2013 8:52 AM EDT
Wow! Stop complaining? I did not see it coming. I am on their side (those in Rikuzentakata). What the people in that town are facing and fighting against deserve to be heard. Japan's paralysis is truly heart breaking.
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KC9
3/14/2013 1:00 PM EDT
Junko,
Thank you for your article. I believe Japanese people do not know about what you pointed out in the article. The sad thing is that Japanese newspapers hide this kind of information.
BR,
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de_la_rosa
3/14/2013 3:09 PM EDT
I'm sorry. I didn't really read your article carefully and was not expecting the author to reply.
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JP/DC
3/14/2013 9:35 PM EDT
Why comment on something you have not read? Beyond moronic.
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EREBUS
3/14/2013 5:29 PM EDT
After the Xenia, Ohio tornado, you could still see damage scars twenty-five years later. I have been to Sendai, Japan before the tsunami. It will be many years before they can even restore the basic services, so I suspect they will be rebuilding for many years to come.
These things take time. There are no immediate miricles for planning a new environment and getting everything cleaned up and rebuilt. Patience please.
Just my opinion.
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BobsView
3/15/2013 11:35 AM EDT
Why is it, every time someone raises an issues that needs some social involvement, some non-participant cries, "Stop complaining"?
Junko, you are doing a wonderful service by reporting on this. Perhaps it will embarrass the people who have been enlisted to resolve this problem enough to entice them to do the jobs they are being paid to do.
Anyone that believes the public should "stop complaining" and put up with whatever injustice is thrown at them is being completely unrealistic.
Nothing happens unless someone complains. Only a Mother Teresa does something completely out of the goodness of her heart. And the world is lacking in Mother Teresa's.
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junko.yoshida
3/15/2013 4:30 PM EDT
Well put. The world won't become a better place if we all just keep our heads down and won't raise an issue.
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de_la_rosa
3/16/2013 9:50 PM EDT
"Japan’s fat, complacent, mostly male bureaucracy."
Why is it when results are not found, people start complaining? And when results are met, they are congratulated.
It's not just this, this author complains about everything Japan: Panasonic, Sharp, Sony were just the recent victims of her global opinions that would be better suited to a local japanese news paper.
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aktion99
3/17/2013 2:18 AM EDT
That what I always found in this EE Times site from this author. What she want to seek in this site for Japan. For good or bad for Japan. When she given some article about Japan problem more uneducated opinions or comments is given and not many good suggestion especially from Japan haters. Its not matter if Japan response to it or not. Or it will be better not posting article about Japan at all. This is technology website not problem website. Thanks.
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EREBUS
3/15/2013 6:38 PM EDT
It is not an issue about stop complaining.
The issue is about a realistic understanding about the magnitude of the damage they need to undo. Complaining about something not being done instantly creates a needless redirection of resources that in the end takes longer to implement than the initial plan.
Until you have seen a city rebuilt, you have no idea about all of the issues involved.
I wish there was a magic wand or a global undo button, but rebuilding communities takes time.
Don't shoot the messenger just because you disagree with the message.
Just my opinion.
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aktion99
3/16/2013 1:24 AM EDT
I agree with EREBUS, and for Junko I know how you felt to you fellow japanese aspecially in the disaster zone. But to redeveloped a proper infrastructure in the disaster zone take long time and with the scale of disaster because it involve many issue to consider but I can`t accept if Japan Gov can`t ready the basic and important thing. All in all not to expect fast or blink of the eye recovery. Thanks.
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de_la_rosa
3/17/2013 4:43 PM EDT
how do I deactivate my eetimes account? it's too easy to troll on here!
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BobsView
3/18/2013 11:34 AM EDT
I actually look forward to Junko's articles and enjoy her style of reporting. It gives me a valuable insight into the technical supply chain issues that are not reported in the nightly news.
Junko, keep up the good work!
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aktion99
3/19/2013 1:12 AM EDT
I agree, keep up a good work. Give more insight. Thanks
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nannasin28
3/19/2013 3:23 AM EDT
the way our bureaucracy thinks and acts. http://www.hqew.net
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